To figure out which new yarns you all will love, we often have to look back at what you've loved in the recent past. So, in our efforts to forecast the next big yarns of the future, we took a peek back at 2011 and all the lines you all went gaga over. What we found were a few surprising (and several not-so-surprising) top sellers we thought we would share with you. Without further ado, here are the top 11 yarns of 2011, as voted on by all of your orders!

With gorgeous lines from Lorna's Laces, Koigu, Madelinetosh and Malabrigo
taking many of the top spots, it looks like many of you fell head
over heals for hand-dyed yarns this last year. We can't say we blame
you. :) Of course, there are some of the tried and true classics like
Cascade and Blue Sky Alpacas in there as well. Then there are those
two up and coming yarns at the bottom of the list that have been a
big hit since this past summer--yes, ruffle yarns! And they seem to
be on their way up! So, if 2011 was the year of hand-dyed yarns, what
will 2012 be? You tell us! Check out Jeanne's
blog post, where she raves about her favorite yarns from 2011 and
leave us a comment letting us know what you like, what you want more
of, or even new yarns you wish we would carry for the coming year. We
always appreciate the feedback!

Malabrigo's newest yarn has us all in a tizzy and slightly twitterpated. This gorgeous sport weight superwash yarn comes in splendid Malabrigo colors in the perfect weight for spring and summer sweaters! When this yarn first arrived, Kristen literally ran around the shop clutching several skeins shouting, "I want to buy all the things!" Kristen's crazy moment aside, we absolutely can't wait to knit with it, and we just know you'll love it too!

Always on the cutting edge of the current trends, Trendsetter has once again
taken ruffle yarn to the next level with their new Poppy yarn. With
the fabulous ruffle netting that we already know and love, Poppy also
features a super soft and fluffy edging that will add a little bit of
softness and pizzazz to your knitted items. Leanne, our resident
ruffle maniac, is super excited about Poppy and has already grabbed a
skein to make herself a scarf in the #6 Red Barron!

Rowan Studio 24 takes classic design with a 70’s inspired twist to
create ultra-wearable knits in this newest edition! Using favorite
Rowan yarns such as Wool
Cotton, Kidsilk
Haze, and Cashsoft
DK, these designs are sure to become wardrobe staples overnight. Even
if you are trading bell bottoms for skinny jeans these days, you'll
still love the look of these timeless knits. Check out the fun kits
we've created from these patterns, like Daphne and Sandy.

Take your spinning skills to the next level with the new book "Spin Art" by Jacey Boggs. This book helps you take textured yarns to the next level and encourages inventive ways to harness your creativity. Complete with a bonus DVD, this book is a must-have for the novice to experienced spinners alike!

We recently added some of Red Heart's "Boutique" offerings to our collection of yarns, and we couldn't be more pleasantly surprised with what we've seen! The new Midnight yarn is a beautiful, machine-washable, self-striping yarn with a little bit of sparkle. It's so pretty, in fact, that Erika had to grab a skein and knit herself a hat out of it right away. The result was so stunning that we think you'll love it just as much as we do!

Addi’s famous Turbo knitting needles are now available in US size 50! Now,
we know that these jumbo knitting needles aren’t necessarily
practical for everyday use, but when you do need them, it’s
nice to know where you can find them! Perfect for those super chunky
and cozy afghans that we’ve been seeing on Ravelry
and Pinterest,
you can knit many a last minute gift with these bad boys and live to
tell the tale!

We nearly swooned when we received our first shipment of Swans
Island yarns last fall! The beautiful hand-dyed color palette combined with super soft organic wool makes for a stunning result. Along with this gorgeous yarn, Swans Island presents a collection of unique and stylish patterns, including this month's Kit of the Month pattern- the Anna Cowl! This long cowl features squishy garter stitch and a lovely shell lace pattern border on both sides, resulting in a cozy winter accessory that can be worn long or doubled up for a more bundled look. This is the kind of project that is perfect for first-time lace knitters since the pattern is simple and easy to follow.

To welcome Swans Island to the Jimmy Beans Wool family, we are hosting a Knit-a-long (KAL) for the Anna Cowl! We’ll be kicking
it off on Wednesday Jan. 25th with a blog post hosted by Kristen, and
the KAL will run through the middle of February. Kristen will be
posting her progress, tips and tricks, and any other anecdotes from
the KAL on the Jimmy
Beans Wool Blog and on the Ravelry
Discussion Board. She will also be available for knitting help throughout the entire
KAL process. Now is a great time to participate, while the kit is
available at a discount, and you'll have tons of knitting
support to get you started! Please e-mail Kristen directly with any
questions about the Knit-a-long or the pattern:
kristen@JimmyBeansWool.com. Happy knitting!

We are so excited to announce that Jimmy Beans Wool is now the official
yarn, knitting, and crochet supplier to U.S. Snowboarding and U.S.
Freeskiing! Jimmy Beans Wool has also partnered with Red
Heart Yarns to create Stitch
Mountain-- a campaign to encourage creativity on and off the slopes. Jimmy Beans
Wool has been wanting to give back to the ski and snowboard community
for years, ever since Laura (aka Jimmy) opened the

original Jimmy
Beans Wool store in Truckee, California and sold yarn and knitting
supplies to local skiers and snowboarders to make beanies and other
winter accessories. Their business in those early years helped Jimmy
Beans Wool flourish, so it's only fitting that we give back
in this way!

In addition to sponsoring U.S. Snowboarding and U.S. Freeskiing, Jimmy
Beans Wool and Red Heart yarns are also individually sponsoring
Olympic silver medalist and seven-time X Games Champion in
snowboardcross, Lindsey Jacobellis!
Lindsey is an avid knitter and knitwear designer as well as an
awesome athlete. We are so honored to be able to sponsor her! We are
also looking forward to some of the fun and exclusive hat patterns
she will be designing for us using Red Heart yarns in the near
future!

In the meantime, one way that you can help us to support U.S.
Snowboarding and U.S. Freeskiing is to support Stitch Mountain! Red
Heart's awesome design team has created an amazing collection
of free Stitch Mountain patterns for you all to knit, crochet and
wear during all of your winter activities. Check them out on the
Stitch
Mountain page or just pick up a kit
with your favorite design. We hope you all enjoy Stitch Mountain and
all of the upcoming fun to be had with this new adventure!

They're back! Of course I'm referring to the lovely Tosh
Onesies! Available in multiple weights, these are the misfit
skeins that don't quite match the other colors in their batches--but
are beautiful all the same. If you love the look of hand-dyed yarn
and you love a great deal, grab some Onesies before we run out!
A word of caution - these are "onesies" so we only have one or two skeins that match. In other words, these are perfect to grab for a one-skein project like a hat or cowl!

Want more sale deals? Check out the Sito
and Lucido
that just arrived from On Line Yarns. The different colored fibers
twisted together into bulky weight yarn add texture that looks great
in even the simplest patterns!

Or, for soft, snuggly
and cuddly
light yarns you'll love this spring, try these two lines by Sirdar
and Euro Baby!
Still in winter mode? Check out Tahki Stacy Charles' 100% roving wool yarn, Montana Print! This ultra bulky variegated yarn is perfect for accessories and garments that will keep you warm no matter how low the temperature gets!

Traditional mukluks are made from seal skin and worn in the Arctic. While Jeanne's mukluks don't fit the tradition, they do fit her feet (yes, that's where they are supposed to be worn, not on the hands. Silly Jeanne. They're also super cozy and very easy and fun to knit! She used the wool based Lamb's Bride Bulky to make sure they're nice and warm for the coming chilly months. Jeanne made the large short version, but you can add a bit more yarn and make the longer version to warm your legs too!

This incredible fair isle Sheep Heid Hat may look intimidating, but Allie swears that if you know how to knit fair isle, it's a piece of cake! We don't currently carry the yarn she used, but we do have a number of substitution options! Isager Wool 1 would be ideal! Or, if you're looking for an extremely soft hat and you don't mind a bit of modification, you can use all 6 shades of Classic Elite Vail!

Amanda wanted a new, cozy pair of mitts to wear this winter and she thought that Susie's Reading Mitts would be perfect! She said, 'I have hardly knit more than a hat, but the pattern was easy enough that I could create a picot hem and thumb gusset, both of which I've never done before!' We think that they look great in the Lana Grossa Chiara yarn. Nice job Amanda!

I followed the pattern exactly and it came out great! I really love the design in this pattern--it's geometric and fun, and it's really easy to do. It's just knits and purls done in different patterns throughout and the entire thing is reversible so you don't have to worry about what it looks like on the back side. By the end, I didn't even need the pattern anymore because it was super easy to anticipate what comes next!

One thing I did to make it easier to keep my place was I put a stitch marker every 34 sts since the pattern was a 34 stitch repeat. This really helped. Also, next time I knit this, I will probably cast on 34 fewer stitches and make it tiny a bit shorter. My finished cowl is really long and I think I would have liked it a bit shorter. Other then that, it was a fun and fast knit!

This super simple Stratum hat took very little time and less than a full hank of Lorna's Laces discontinued Green Line Worsted. While the yarn Jeanne used is no longer available, the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted is an excellent machine washable alternative!

Sharon, Leanne and Sandy each made one of these basic ribbed scarves with different yarn and other modifications. Sharon CO 64 stitches, then did a basic K4, P4 rib pattern. The finished result is about 8' x 70'. She attached some lovely fringe and voila! Sharon loves the super soft Carezza yarn she used, and there are plenty of beautiful colorways of this yarn to choose from!